The Big East is a tough conference for nearly every sport, and women’s lacrosse is certainly no exception.
That’s especially true when you add in a traditional lacrosse powerhouse like the University of Denver as a one-sport associate member. Three teams currently hold undefeated conference records in the early going: Denver, Georgetown and Villanova.
The UConn women’s lacrosse team received a reminder on just how grueling Big East competition can be over the last two weeks, as they had to play all three of the undefeated programs to open their conference schedule.
Losing the first two schools in blowouts to start the stretch before falling short in a late comeback attempt against the latter, UConn currently sits on the opposite end of the spectrum with a 0-3 Big East record and a five-game losing streak.
Fortunately for the Huskies, the light at the end of the tunnel may be peaking through. That light is the Butler Bulldogs, who also haven’t won a Big East game. UConn (3-8, 0-3) will get a chance against Butler (3-9, 0-2) on Saturday at home as the Huskies look to get back into the win column for the first time in nearly a month.
Butler has struggled immensely to prevent goals, having allowed the most goals in the Big East by almost 20 at 162 on the year.
Samantha Wilson, the only goalie who’s seen the field for the Bulldogs this season, also places at the bottom of the conference in save percentage at a subpar .367 rate. That number ranks Wilson 106th out of 114 qualified goalies in the NCAA, according to the NCAA website. The freshman has allowed 13.52 goals per game.
It’ll be up to the Huskies on whether they can capitalize on this deficiency, though past results indicate that it might be a challenge.
UConn is the only team in the Big East to not have crossed the 100-goal mark on the season so far, currently sitting at 90. Only 31.7% of Husky shots have found the back of the net, good for the worst scoring margin the conference at –4.3 per game. The Bulldogs are the next lowest at –2.8.
Megan O’Brien is tied for team lead in goals with 18, though she has been held scoreless in three out of the Huskies’ last four games. Sixteen of the sophomore’s goals came prior to Big East play, and the attacker has only found nylon three times in her last five contests.
Rayea Davis also holds that team lead with O’Brien, having taken the second most shots per game in the Big East this year. However, the team captain remains well outside of the top 10 in scoring. A few more of those shots going would give the Huskies a discernible boost.
For as much trouble as the Bulldogs have had preventing goals, they’ve had no problem scoring them. Butler finds themselves within the top three in scoring in the Big East and run out a top-five conference scorer in Elise Latham. The senior has the fourth-most goals and fifth-most goals per game.
Defender Abby Beran will her work cut out for her against Latham, though the 2025 Big East Defensive Player of the Year has demonstrated time and time again that she is up for the challenge. The junior is coming off a season-high in both groundballs and turnovers in the Huskies’ last contest and is third and seventh in each category in the country, respectively, according to the NCAA website
Like the Huskies, the Bulldogs carry a relatively long losing streak into Saturday’s contest. Currently nursing a four-game skid, good for a quarter of their regular season schedule, Butler hasn’t found a victory since March 11.
With a pair of teams looking to snap long losing streaks, faceoff at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium is set for noon. The game will stream live on ESPN+.